Latest Stories

Create a Custom Envelope

I’d like to print customized envelopes for our
practice. Is there some easy way I can do that?

I wouldn’t dismiss Word’s envelope function. It’s very
useful and can be customized easily by clicking on the Options button
(see screenshots).

But if you want even more customization—such as an added graphic —I
suggest creating a template that can be evoked with a single click.
Here’s how:

Open a blank document and click on File,
Page Setup and under the Margins
tab change the Orientation to
Landscape. Then click on the Paper
tab and cursor down to Com-10 (for
commercial #10 envelope) or to the envelope size you prefer. If you
don’t see the envelope size you want, select Custom
and enter its height and width. Then set the margins. If you
should happen to set them too small, Word will warn you, and if you
click on Fix, it will make the proper adjustments.

Then type your return address in the upper-left corner. To add a
picture or a graphic design, click on Insert,
Picture, From File and navigate to it. Then highlight the graphic
and click on Insert (see screenshot).

Caution: Since you want the envelope to be
easily accessible, don’t let Word automatically save the template to
the default location for all templates—hidden deep among the many
folders in C:Documents and Settings. Instead, use the Save in
box (see screenshot below) to navigate to the
Desktop, where you can access the envelope with a
click.

The results of the 2016 presidential election are likely to have a big impact on federal tax policy in the coming years. Eddie Adkins, CPA, a partner in the Washington National Tax Office at Grant Thornton, discusses what parts of the ACA might survive the repeal of most of the law.